by Amy Cross
The barb pulses again, but somehow I manage to hold back. I'm still fantasizing about killing him, about hearing his screams, but I'm not sure I can actually bring myself to do that. I can feel the barb straining against the membrane that holds it in place as its poison tip slides a little further toward the front of my mouth. The constant tension is causing the back of my throat to ache terribly, and it would be so easy to just open my mouth and get this over with.
“Sylvia,” Mr. Randall stays, “is that really you? I always wondered... I mean, I read about what happened but I also read that they never found your body. I always...”
Again, his voice trails off. He looks down toward my waist, and I'm sure that in the moonlight he can just about see where the scales start forming against my bare skin.
“I think about it every day,” he continues. “About what I did. About what we did. Sylvia, if I could go back, if I could undo all of it... Is there any way you can forgive me?”
I should kill him right now.
I have every right.
There's just some part of me that won't let it happen.
Finally, slowly, I open my mouth a little and reach in with two fingers. Taking care not to cut myself, I press the barb back a little until the membranes stop straining, and then I twist the tip until the root tears free. Pulling the barb out of my mouth, I look at it in my hand and see the black veins that run toward the tip. There's more than enough poison here to kill a man, to make his last moments agony.
I set the barb down on the floor of the dock, and then I look at Mr. Randall and see that he's seen it. He's staring at the barb, watching it with a growing expression of horror. He knows what he can do now, how he can end his miserable life, and he also knows that I won't take the decision for him. He stares at the barb, and I'm sure he remembers Ms. Harper's screams as she died all those years ago. After a moment, he starts reaching out toward the barb, before holding back as if he still can't decide. I watch the fear grow in his eyes, and I watch as tears form and start running down his face. He knows what he has to do.
This can be my revenge.
And then I leave, and I start swimming deep down, back to where all the others are waiting.
Also by Amy Cross
STEPHEN
Fresh from the convent, Beryl Seaton accepts a position as governess for the Brooks family. When she arrives at the family's remote house, however, she discovers that a terrible secret is waiting for her in the nursery.
From the author of Asylum and The Farm, Stephen is a horror novel about a young woman who finds herself torn between two worlds. Desperate to help her employers in their hour of need, she nevertheless struggles to look after their son.
What happened to Stephen, to leave him the way he is? What happened to the previous governess at Grangehurst? And what causes the sobbing sound that seem to drift through an empty room?
By the time she uncovers the awful truth about the family, and about little Stephen, it might be too late for Beryl to ever leave.
Stephen is a horror novel about a family with a deadly secret, and about a meek and timid young woman who finds herself drawn into the heart of a nightmare.
Also by Amy Cross
HAUNTED
Twenty years ago, the ghost of a dead little girl drove Sheriff Michael Blaine to his death.
Now, that same ghost is coming for his daughter.
Returning to the small town where she grew up, Alex Roberts is determined to live a normal, quiet life. As far as she's concerned, her past – and her family's history – shouldn't ruin her future. For the residents of Railham, however, she's an unwelcome reminder of the town's darkest hour.
Twenty years ago, nine-year-old Mo Garvey was found brutally murdered in a nearby forest. Everyone thinks that Alex's father was responsible, but if the killer was brought to justice, why is the ghost of Mo Garvey still after revenge And how far will the real killer go to protect his secret, when Alex finally starts getting closer to the truth?
Haunted is a horror novel about a woman who has to face her past, about a town that would rather forget, and about a little girl who refuses to let death stand in her way.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BRIDE OF ASHBYRN HOUSE
“I have waited so long for your return.”
In the English countryside, miles from the nearest town, there stands an old stone house. Nobody has set foot in the house for years. Nobody has dared. For it is said that even though the lady of the house is long dead, a face can sometimes be seen at one of the windows. A pale, dead face that waits patiently behind a silk wedding veil.
Seeking a much-needed escape from his hectic life in London, Owen Stone purchases Ashbyrn House without waiting to find out about its history. As far as Owen is concerned, ghosts aren't real and his only company in the house will be the thin-legged spiders that lurk on the walls. Even after he moves in, and after he starts hearing strange noises in the night, Owen insists that Ashbyrn House can't possibly be haunted.
But Owen knows nothing about the ghostly figure that is said to haunt the house. Or about the mysterious church bells that ring out across the lawn at night. Or about the terrible fate that befell the house's previous inhabitants when they dared defy the bride. Even as Owen starts to understand the horrific truth about Ashbyrn House's past, he might be too late to escape the clutches of the presence that watches his every move.
The Bride of Ashbyrn House is a ghost story about a man who believes the past can't hurt him, and about a woman whose search for a husband has survived even her own tragic death.
Also by Amy Cross
THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF
“We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”
When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.
A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.
The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.
Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?
The Body at Auercliff is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.
OTHER BOOKS
BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE
Horror
The Soul Auction
Stephen
The Ash House
The Camera Man
The Bride of Ashbyrn House
The Body at Auercliff
Haunted
B&B
Laura
Asylum
Meds (Asylum 2)
Annie's Room
The Farm
The Ghost of Molly Holt
The Curse of Wetherley House
The Ghosts of Lakeforth Hotel
The Haunting of Blackwych Grange
The Ghosts of Hexley Airport
The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal book 1)
Darper Danver: The Complete First Series
The Disappearance of Katie Wren
The Horror of Devil's Root Lake
The Printer From Hell
The Nurse
American Coven
Eli's Town
The Night Girl
Devil's Briar
The Cabin
After the Cabin
Last Wrong Turn
The Ghost of Shapley Hall
A House in London
The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)
Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)
The Border
Short Story Collections
Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories
Twisted Little Things and Other Stories
The Ghost of Longthorn Manor and Other Stories
The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Stories
Thrillers
The Murder at Skellin Cottage (Jo Mason book 1)
The Return of Rachel Stone (Jo Mason book 2)
The Girl Who Never Came Back
Other People's Bodies
Dystopian / Science Fiction
The Dog
The Island (The Island book 1)
Persona (The Island book 2)
The Abyss (The Island book 3)